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By Joe Chandler

South Boston Speedway

Jacob Borst scored his first career win in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division at South Boston Speedway last season in his first season of competing in the division.

The young Elon, North Carolina resident was optimistic another win would come his way, but he had no idea how long it would take. That second win came in the second race of a twin-race event on April 30 at South Boston Speedway, making him the division’s most recent winner and only the third race winner in the division thus far this season.

“It’s been too long, but to back it (his first win) up 364 days later is pretty amazing,” Borst remarked after the victory that marked his second victory in as many seasons in Late Model Stock Car Division competition at South Boston Speedway.

“I’m very privileged to be in this ride, and my dad gives me a good piece every week.”

Borst enters the twin 75-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division races that will headline Saturday night’s Southern Virginia Higher Education Center/God’s Pit Crew First Responders Night event in second place in the division point standings. He sits 18 points behind points leader Layne Riggs of Bahama, North Carolina who has won five of the season’s first seven races.

Through the season’s first seven races Borst has a win, four Top-Five finishes and has finished in the Top-10 in each of his starts. He is also one of six drivers to lead laps in the division thus far this season.

Those are not bad statistics, but they are not quite as good as Borst and his team had hoped they would be. Borst is hoping his win will spark a strong run through the rest of the season.

“We’re going up against good teams every week,” Borst pointed out.

“This car is a new car to us this season. We just got it at the beginning of the season. We were “off” the first couple of races. We’ve been dialing ourselves in, just trying to get better as the season has gone on.

“Dad and I talked at the beginning of the season, and we were saying it was going to take a little bit for us to get the car better,” added Borst.

“The car was really good in the last race. We took advantage of some misfortune on the part of others. I drove the wheels off of it and did my best.”

The Southern Virginia Higher Education Center/God’s Pit Crew First Responders Night event will be a big one as twin races will be held in three of South Boston Speedway’s four NASCAR racing divisions.

In addition to the twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division, fans will see twin 30-lap races for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division and twin 15-lap races for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division. A 20-lap race for the Hornets Division will round out the night’s seven-race card.

South Boston Speedway is honoring the region’s first responders by offering free admission to the event for first responders with ID.

The event schedule for the Saturday, May 21 Southern Virginia Higher Education Center/God’s Pit Crew First Responders Night event has registration and pit gates opening at 2 p.m. Practice starts at 3:30 p.m., grandstand gates will open at 5:30 p.m., qualifying begins at 6 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.

Advance adult general admission tickets for the event are priced at $10 each plus a $1.50 processing fee and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, through Friday night, May 20. Advance tickets may also be purchased by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.

Tickets at the gate on race night will be $15 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $10 each at the gate on race night.

The latest updates and news for both fans and competitors can be found on the speedway’s website, southbostonspeedway.com, and the track’s social media channels. Information may also be obtained by phoning the speedway at (434) 572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.